25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction

By CNN Staff

Updated 9:01 AM ET, Tue August 20, 2013

25 great skyscrapers: icons of construction25 photos

Empire State Building, New York – Height: 437 meters. Cost to build: $41 million.Completion date: May 1, 1931.Fast fact: The Empire State Building took only one year and 45 days to build, or 7 million man hours -- a record to this day for a skyscraper of its height. Its glory days are numbered though -- developers in China just broke ground on the world's tallest building, Sky City, with plans to whip it up in just 10 months.

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China Central Television Headquarters, Beijing – Height: 234 meters.Cost to build: $600 million.Completion date: 2012.Fast fact: A building in the CCTV complex was badly damaged during a fire ignited by fireworks.

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Commerzbank Headquarters, Frankfurt, Germany – Height: 300.1 meters.Cost to build: $414 million.Completion date: 1997. Fast fact: There's no observatory or open area on top. The public can only get as far as the plaza level.

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The Shard, London – Height: 310 meters.Cost to build: $666 million. Completion date: November 2012.Fast fact: Architect Renzo Piano made the first rough sketch of The Shard on the back of a restaurant menu in Berlin in 2000.

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Elephant Tower, Bangkok – Height: 102 meters.Cost to build: N/A.Completion date: 1997. Fast fact: The elephant is Thailand's national animal; it appeared on the national flag when the country was known as Siam.

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Chrysler Building, New York – Height: 320 meters.Cost to build: $15-20 million.Completion date: May 1930.Fast fact: The building became the tallest in the world when architect William van Alen added a surprise 186-foot spire to the top, beating the Eiffel Tower and another skyscraper being built at the same time on Wall Street.

Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea – Height: 330 meters.Cost to build: $750 million.Completion date: N/A.Fast fact: The hotel has held the Guinness World Record for world's tallest unoccupied building for an unenviable 21 years.

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Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco – Height: 260 meters.Cost to build: $32 million.Completion date: 1972.Fast fact: When the Transamerica Pyramid's three years of construction began in 1969, signs around the site proclaimed it "a San Francisco landmark since 1972."

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Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong – Height: 367.4 meters.Cost to build: N/A.Completion date: May 1990.Fast fact: The building was criticized by feng shui masters for its sharp corners, which, they claimed, would bring bad luck to its neighbors (notably the HSBC main building).

Tokyo Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, Tokyo – Height: 204 meters.Cost to build: N/A.Completion date: October 2008.Fast fact: As the name suggests, the Tokyo Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower resembles the silky home of various larvae. Students are said to be educated inside the 50-level tower and metaphorically transformed into something bigger and more beautiful.

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Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai – Height: 492 meters.Cost to build: $1.2 billion.Completion date: August 2008.Fast fact: The square "bottle opener" opening at the top is designed to reduce stress of wind pressure, and was originally circular. However, Shanghainese citizens and the city's mayor protested, claiming it was too similar to the rising sun design of the Japanese flag.

Two International Finance Center, Hong Kong – Height: 415 meters.Cost to build: $2.5 billion.Completion date: August 2008.Fast facts: Two International Financial Center is the definitive point of Hong Kong's skyline and a symbol of its wealth. In "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life," Lara Croft leaped off the building.

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Burj al Arab, Dubai, U.A.E. – Height: 321 meters.Cost to build: $650 million.Completion date: December 1999.Fast fact: The hotel is not, nor does it claim to be, a seven-star hotel. That famed designation was dreamed up by a creative journalist when touring the property.

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Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan – Height: 508 meters.Cost to build: $1.8 billion.Completion date: 2004.Fast fact: The building is designed to resemble a growing bamboo stalk, a symbol of everlasting strength in Chinese culture.

Burj Khalifa, Dubai, U.A.E. – Height: 828 meters.Cost to build: $1.5 billion.Completion date: January 2009.Fast fact: Not only is this currently the world's tallest building, it's home to the world's highest mosque, on the 158th floor. The tower is more than twice the height of the Empire State Building in New York.

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30 St. Mary Axe, London – Height: 180 meters.Cost to build: $212 million.Completion date: 2003.Fast fact: Despite its curvaceous body, the entire building only has one piece of curved glass in its construction -- the lens at the top of the building.

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Turning Torso, Malmo, Sweden – Height: 190 meters.Cost to build: $80 million.Completion date: 2005.Fast fact: In line with Sweden's low-emission promise, the tallest residential building in the country is supplied with 100% locally produced renewable energy.

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One World Trade Center, New York – Height: 541 meters.Cost to build: $3.9 billion.Completion date: May 2013.Fast fact: The height of 1,776 feet is a symbolic reference to the year in which the United States' Declaration of Independence was signed.

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Marina Bay Sands, Singapore – Height: 194 meters.Cost to build: $6.3 billion.Opening date: April 2010.Fast fact: Marina Bay Sands is one of the world's most expensive standalone casino properties, with total construction costs estimated at more than $6 billion.

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Story highlights

Empire State Building is still the fastest built skyscraper of its height

Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea has held record for tallest unoccupied building for 21 years

London's 310-meter The Shard is highest building in the European Union

China may have just topped out on its new tallest building -- the 632-meter Shanghai Tower -- but if plans underway in Changsha come to fruition, that building will hold the title until only April 2014 when the country's 838-meter Sky City is completed.

When that happens, Sky City will become the world's tallest building, beating the Burj Khalifa in Dubai by 10 meters.

These aren't the tallest buildings in the world, they aren't the prettiest buildings in the world, they aren't even the most successful -- the inclusion of North Korea's disastrous Ryugyong Hotel attests to that.

But they are among the most iconic, representing their designers and their cities as memorably as anything else.

To put together the list we collaborated with A. Eugene Kohn, founder and chairman of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), one of the world's largest architectural firms, and Michael Greene, KPF principal.

Let us know what you think of our choices and tell us about your own favorite iconic buildings in the comments section below.

Empire State Building, New York

Height: 437 meters

Cost to build: $41 million

Completion date: May 1, 1931

Fast fact: The Empire State Building took only one year and 45 days to build, or 7 million man hours -- a record to this day for a skyscraper of its height.

Its glory days are numbered though -- developers in China just broke ground on the world's tallest building, Sky City, with plans to whip it up in just 10 months.

"With the passing of the World Trade Center, it became even more entrenched in the hearts and souls of New Yorkers and the rest of the world." -- Michael Greene.

The 443-meter Empire State Building is the icon of New York, where Jay Z's "dreams are made" and King Kong went berserk.

The Empire State Building was designed by William Lamb of architecture firm Shreve, Lamb & Harmon.

Built during the Great Depression, this gigantic building has been an American symbol for 70 years, providing a solid anchor through the ebbs and flows of its economy.

It's also the longest holder of the "World's Tallest Building" title, from 1931 to 1972.

Its exterior lighting changes regularly to promote charitable causes and mark significant events and it's one of the few skyscrapers to offer wedding packages at its observatory.

Fast fact: There's no observatory or open area on top. The public can only get as far as the plaza level.

With the aid of a 50-meter mast, the Commerzbank Headquarters in Frankfurt soars past the 300-meter mark by a whopping 10 centimeters.

Designed by London-headquartered architecture firm Foster + Partners, the building is the tallest in Germany.

It was the tallest of all buildings in the European Union until London's The Shard bumped it to second in 2012.

The Commerzbank Headquarters was the world's first so-called ecological skyscraper, making use of natural systems of lighting and ventilation and reducing energy consumption as early as 1997.

In contrast to Europe's conspicuous lack of grand skyscrapers, this building celebrates its rise above low-rise offices, making it not just a symbol of Frankfurt's economy, but of Germany's attempts to pioneer eco-architectural design.

Fast fact: Architect Renzo Piano made the first rough sketch of The Shard on the back of a restaurant menu in Berlin in 2000.

In a city as architecturally mature as London, it takes something special to get eyeballs away from Westminster Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London.

The Shard did it, slicing up the skyline and the record books with its 310-meter height overtaking the Commerzbank Headquarters in Frankfurt by nine meters, to become the highest building in the European Union.

Its viewing floors, called The View from The Shard, offer views twice as high as any other viewing platform in London.

Fast fact: The building became the tallest in the world when architect William van Alen added a surprise 186-foot spire to the top, beating the Eiffel Tower and another skyscraper being built at the same time on Wall Street.

It kept its title of world's tallest building for just 11 months (being beaten by the Empire State Building), but the Chrysler Building's enduring legacy comes from its design.

That it came about due to auto mogul Walter P. Chrysler's ego -- he financed the build himself and requested that his toilet be the highest in Manhattan, so, according to one observer, he could "s**t on Henry Ford and the rest of the world" -- only adds to the legend.

The building pays more than a cursory nod to the Chrysler cars of the day, with gargoyles and other features on the building inspired by the hood ornaments and radiator caps on the automobiles.

Fast fact: The hotel has held the Guinness World Record for world's tallest unoccupied building for an unenviable 21 years.

The world's tallest unoccupied building is undoubtedly an icon -- though probably not one you'd wish to be associated with.

Symbolizing decades of mismanagement and incongruous ostentation, what was originally started in 1987 in preparation for a festival was abandoned due to construction problems and funding issues.

Construction re-commenced in 2008 when Egyptian telecommunications company Orascom shelled out $180 million to complete the building's glass façade.

Kempinski Hotels group got on board to manage the property, then distanced itself again earlier this year when Pyongyang threatened the possibility of nuclear attacks against the United States and South Korea.

The last reports on the hotel's progress came from a Hong Kong journalist who escaped his chaperone in December 2012.

"When I stepped through scaffolding into the lobby and looked inside, there were no completed surfaces, just bare concrete and one electric light hanging down," Simon Parry told CNN.

We can expect the spacecraft-like shell to remain grounded for the foreseeable future, with the European Chamber of Commerce concluding, after an inspection in the 1990s, that poor construction materials and technique rendered the building a write-off.

Fast fact: When the Transamerica Pyramid's three years of construction began in 1969, signs around the site proclaimed it "a San Francisco landmark since 1972."

"The Transamerica Pyramid put San Francisco's downtown on the map." -- Michael Greene.

A stark contrast to San Franciso's picturesque wooden Victorian houses, this quartz-covered skyscraper juts into the sky like a rocket.

Though not comparable to today's futuristic skyscrapers, the 260-meter pyramid was the city's most recognizable building for decades.

Designed by architect William Pereira, the structure has an unconventional tapered design -- imitating a tree trunk -- that allows natural light and fresh air to trickle down to adjacent streets.

Without obstructing much of the tranquil neighborhood, this slender style, together with an earthquake-safe design, allowed the building to get around strict building laws in the city, reaching a height once unheard of in San Francisco.

The Transamerica Pyramid isn't open to the public, though there's a decent website with images and facts on the building.

Fast fact: Riyadh's building code forbids any building to have more than 30 usable floors, but doesn't impose height restrictions. The big void near the top of the Kingdom Centre means the building uses only 30 floors.

The second floor of Kingdom Centre is dedicated to a Ladies' Kingdom, a private shopping mall for women that's said to have "almost everything a female would need" -- including a ladies' bank and ladies' mosque.

Men are strictly not allowed, and women can shop freely without needing to be covered.

Designed by Minnesota-based firm Ellerbe Becket, the tower also houses the Four Seasons hotel and "the world's tallest mosque" on the 77th floor in addition to offices and shopping malls.

The observation deck at the top of the tower has incredible views of the city on clear days.

Fast fact: National poet laureate A. Samad Said was commissioned to write a poem for the towers.

"These towers changed the skyline of Kuala Lumpur, and jumped the existing scale there dramatically. Petronas was also an attempt to relate a tall building to a country's culture and history, and to make a statement about its power and desire to replace Hong Kong as a financial capital." -- A. Eugene Kohn.

The world's tallest twin towers stand out in the capital's otherwise unassuming cityscape. Visitors can see the views from the Skybridge, which connects the two structures and is the world's highest two-story bridge at Level 41 and 42, as well as from the observation deck at Level 86.

Completed in 1996, the sky bridge that connects the two towers symbolizes "a gateway to the future" and Malaysia's sky-high ambition entering the millennium.

Fast fact: It's the second-tallest educational building in the world, next to the M.V. Lomonosov State University building in Moscow.

As the name suggests, the Tokyo Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower resembles the silky home of various larvae.

Students are educated inside the 50-level tower and metaphorically transformed into something bigger and more beautiful, culminating in generations of Tokyoites prepared to give this sprawling city, and country, focus.

According to the architects, Tange Associates, the design of the 50-level tower is meant to symbolize the nurturing of the students and transform them in order to compete in the Japanese workplace.

Tokyo Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, 1-7-3 Nishi-Shinjuku Shinjuku, Tokyo

Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai

Height: 492 meters

Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai.

Cost to build: $1.2 billion

Completion date: August 2008

Fast fact: The square "bottle opener" opening at the top is designed to reduce stress of wind pressure, and was originally circular.

However, Shanghainese citizens and the city's mayor protested, claiming it was too similar to the rising sun design of the Japanese flag.

Just eight meters shy of the half-kilometer mark, this giant bottle opener overtook Gin Mou Tower in 2008 as the tallest building in China, formally marking the city's emergence as a global financial hub.

The building, however, recently lost its title to the neighboring Shanghai Tower, which topped out on August 3, 2012, at 632 meters.

Like many magnificent buildings in China, the Shanghai World Financial Center has a subtle connection to Chinese beliefs: the opening atop represents earth reaching up to the sky, symbolizing an interaction between the two realms.

Fast fact: Designed by Hong Kong architects Dennis Lau and Ng Chun Man, the golden structure combines the visual effects of crystals, fireworks and the long plumes of a Brazilian headdress -- all symbols of prosperity to guide the money home.

In Macau, the Hotel & Casino Grand Lisboa is the eminent icon of gaudy profits.

It isn't particularly beautiful, but who needs beauty when what you're really after is piles of gamblers' cash?

Everything linked with money can somehow be intertwined with superstitions in Macau. This, the tallest skyscraper in Macau (261 meters) was built to resemble a bottleneck to avoid the leaking of cash --- a suggestion reportedly offered by a feng shui master.

"It has become not only a cultural symbol for Barcelona, but also a magnet for groups looking to bring attention to political issues." -- A. Eugene Kohn.

The 144-meter-high building was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and has two cylindrical layers. One topped by polished aluminum and the second clear and translucent glass with 40 different colors.

With a total of 4,500 yellow, blue, pink and red lights placed over the facade, the building helps illuminate the city with floodlights at night, making it the most discernible figure for miles.

Fast fact: Despite its curvaceous body, the entire building has only one piece of curved glass in its construction -- the lens at the top of the building.

"It's extremely creative, and has had an enormous impact on the London skyline, particularly concerning its sculptural shape." -- A. Eugene Kohn.

Some say it's in an egg shape; others call it the London Bullet Building or the Cucumber Building.

Officially named 30 St. Mary Axe, the harlequin-patterned building bulges out slightly from its base to reach a maximum height of 180 meters.

It stands at the center of London's financial district.

Together with its energy-efficient designs, its aerodynamic shape also minimizes wind loads and doesn't deflect wind to the ground, improving wind conditions in the vicinity, winning London pedestrians' hearts.

Fast fact: The height of 1,776 feet is a symbolic reference to the year in which the United States' Declaration of Independence was signed.

Part memorial, part statement, part billion-dollar office complex, One World Trade Center is one of the more controversial buildings of the new century.

Designed by David Childs (Skidmore Owings & Merrill), the skyscraper sits on the spot of the former 6 World Trade Center building, destroyed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

It's meant to be functional, as well as beautiful.

"We fully understand the iconic importance of the tower, but it also has to be a highly efficient building," Childs has said. "If this building doesn't function well, if people don't want to work and visit there, then we will have failed as architects."

Security features such as biological and chemical filters in the ventilation system, reinforced walls and pressurized stairwells, as well as a stairwell exclusively for firefighters, have been included in the event of a future emergency.

Fast fact: Marina Bay Sands is one of the world's most expensive standalone casino properties, with total costs estimated at more than $6 billion.

It's a little lopsided, with one end of the surfboard-like "SkyPark" overhanging one of the three towers by nearly 70 meters, but what Marina Bay Sands lacks in symmetry it makes up for in big numbers.

The hotel has 2,561 rooms.

There's a 150-meter infinity swimming pool within the 340-meter SkyPark.

More than $6 billion went into the property's development, including nearly $1 billion for the land.

But Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson expects to draw even by 2015 at the latest, with the casino alone generating annual profits of $1 billion.

Architect Moshe Safdie says the hotel's design was inspired by a deck of cards. Feng Shui consultants were also involved in the design approval process, though the feng shui aspects of the build are controversial.

Some claim the swimming pool on top of the towers appears to drown the financial district of the city, while others say the water will bring opportunities.